THE NAMES OF THE SONS OF JACOB AND THEIR SPIRITUAL MEANING

THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE SONS OF JACOB AND THEIR SPIRITUAL MEANING.

It was laid upon my heart as I was sleeping this afternoon to discuss the name and meaning of the twelve sons of Jacob. I don’t know why but I know the person the Lord intends to share this with will read it.

THE TWELVE SONS REPRESENT SPIRITUALLY THE TWELVE NATURE OF ISRAEL. JACOB HAD TWELVE SONS AND CHRIST HAD TWELVE APOSTLES. THIS IS A SHADOW TELLING US A MYSTERY ABOUT THE NATURE OF GOD, THE TWELVE FRUITS OF THE TREE OF LIFE MEANT FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS.

I WILL NOT BELABOUR THE ISSUE OF TWELVE HERE BY TRYING TO EXPOUND MORE THE MEANING BUT I WILL JUST STAY ON THE TWELVE SONS.

1
Gen 29:32

32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."

THIS IS THE FIRST SON OF JACOB, REUBEN, MEANING DIVINE SIGHT, SHE SAID THE LORD HAS SEEN MY MASTERY,

WITHOUT DIVINE SIGHT YOU WILL BE GOING ON YOUR JOURNEY LIKE A BLIND MAN. THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY IS A TRIP BASED MAINLY ON REVELATION, WITHOUT SIGHT YOUR LEVEL OF REVELATION IS DEPENDENT ON WHAT OTHERS TELL YOU ABOUT GOD, YOU WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD.

2
Gen 29: 33
33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

SIMEON REPRESENT DIVINE HEARING, PERCEPTION. FOR THE LORD HAS HEARD ME. THIS IS THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE SPIRITUAL TRUTH.

3
Gen 29:34

34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi.

THIS MEANS DIVINE JOINING. NOW AT LAST MY HUSBAND WILL BE ATTACHED TO ME. WILL BE JOINED TO ME, WHEN WE GET TO THIS POINT WE ARE JOINED AND ATTACHED TO THE LORD AND HIS TRUTHS.

4
Gen29:35
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

THIS MEANS DIVINE LEADERSHIP, JUDAH YOU SHALL YOUR BROTHERS PRAISE. THE SCEPTRE OF LEADERSHIP SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH TILL SHILOH COMES. TILL THE ONE TO HOLD THE AUTHORITY COMES. THE ONE TO HOLD THE AUTHORITY IS STILL FAR DOWN BUT JUDAH HOLDS THE LEADERSHIP OVER THE SOUL TILL HE COMES.

5
Gen 30:1-6
1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
2 Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"
3 Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family."
4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her,
5 and she became pregnant and bore him a son.
6 Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan.

DAN MEANS JUDGE, HE THAT JUDGES AND CAN VINDICATE. THIS NATURE IS CALLED DIVINE JUDGEMENT. IT HELPS TO JUDGE THE NATURAL NATURE OF THE MIND WHICH ARE CONTRARY TO THE NATURES OF GOD UNTIL WE ARE VINDICATED.

6
Gen 30:7-8
7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali.

I HAVE WRESTLED AND WON. DIVINE STRENGTH. I WILL STOP HERE AND CONTINUE LATER TONIGHT.
7
Gen 30:9-11

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11 Then Leah said, "a troop cometh!" So she named him Gad.

THIS MEANS THE TROOP “COMMUNITY”LIFE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO LIVE AS CHRISTIANS. WE CANNOT SURVIVE THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE ENEMY IF WE DON’T LIVE LIKE A TROOP. REMEMBER THE ACTS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS? THEY LIVED A COMMUNITY LIFE AND THE WHOLE JERUSALEM WAS AFRAID OF THEM. WHEN ONE PERSON IS RICH THEN ALL OF THEM IS RICH, THE JOY OF ONE IS THE JOY OF ALL AND VICE VERSA. DURING THE NEXT MOVE OF GOD WE WILL BE SEEING THE TROOP LIFE OF THE APOSTLES RETURN. DURING PERSECUTIONS WE WILL STAND TOGETHER AND SURVIVE IT. WHEN THE ISRAELITES WERE COMING OUT OF EGYPT THE LORD DIVIDED THEM INTO 12 TROOPS OR COMMUNITIES. I WONT TAKE YOUR TIME ON THIS.

8

12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13 Then Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.
NIV

I LOVE THIS; THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH. THIS IS DIVINE JOY OR HAPPINESS. NOTICE THAT THE JOY THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES YOU CANNOT BE COMPARED TO THE JOY OF ENTERTAINMENT WHICH TENDS TO TAKE CARE OF THE FLESH.
I USE TO WONDER AT CHRISTIANS THAT WILL SING MAKOSSA IN CHURCH IN OTHER TO PRAISE GOD, PLEASE HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT LOST HIS CREATIVE ABILITY? WHEN WE MEET IN OUR FELLOWSHIP FOR 2 HOURS., WE NORMALLY END UP STAYING 5 TO 6 HOURS, AND STILL WE WILL BE RELUCTANT TO LEAVE AS WE KEEP ENJOYING THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS TRUTH IS UNRAVELLED TO OUR SPIRIT. IF YOU HAVE NOT FOUND THE WELL OF THIS JOY LOOK FOR IT. NOTHING LIKE IT.

9

Gen 30:14-24
14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15 But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."
16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.

I LOVE THIS SCENE, LOOK, GOD KNOWS THE END OF A THING EVEN BEFORE THE BEGINNING, AND CAN YOU IMAGINE THE WISDOM HERE? I LOVE THE LORD….REUBEN DIVINE SIGHT WENT TO THE FARM AND CAME BACK WITH MANDRAKES WHICH IS BASICALLY USED FOR LOVE.
, I MEAN A DEEPER FORM OF LOVE, IT IS ALSO A PLANT USED LIKE VIAGRA, IT IS A LEGUME, HIGHER IN NATURE THAN WHEAT AND BAILEY BUT LOWER THAN FRUIT TREES AND THEY ALSO USE IT IN NEGOTIATING COVENANTS, STUDENTS OF HISTORY KNOW THAT HITLER ENTERED A COVENANT WITH A JEW USING MANDRAKES AND WHEN HE BROKE THE COVENANT HIS GOVERNMENT WAS TOPPLED IN SEVEN YEARS. IT IS A POWERFUL PLANT WITH DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES WHICH I CANT DESCRIBE HERE ALL.

WHEN RACHEL TOOK IT FROM LEAH AND THEY NEGOTIATED FOR THE ATTENTION OF JACOB, LEAH THEREAFTER CONCEIVED AND GAVE BIRTH TO ISSACHAR WHICH MEANS REWARD..WAGES..OR TREASURES….IT IS ONLY DIVINE SIGHT THAT CAN LEAD US TO HEAVENLY RICHES, WHEN THE KINGDOM WAS DESCRIBED AS A MAN SEARCHING FOR A PEARL WHEN HE FOUND IT HE SOLD ALL HE HAD AND BOUGHT THE LAND AND IF WE CHECK THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE GATES OF ISRAEL FROM THE EAST, REUBEN WILL LEAD YOU TO ISSACHAR. SEEK THIS HEAVENLY TREASURE BECAUSE ALL EARTHLY TREASURE WILL PERISH, BUT WITHOUT DIVINE SIGHT YOU CANNOT BE LED TO THIS TREASURE

10
Gen 30:19-20
19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

ZEBULUM MEANS DIVINE STABILITY, WHERE YOU CANNOT BE PUSHED OUT AGAIN, YOU HAVE STABILIZED IN STRENGHT AND HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED LIKE THE FEET'S OF JAKIN AND BOAZ IN THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON, IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THE LORD SAID HE THAT OVERCOME SHALL NO LONGER GO OUT, THEY WILL BE PERMANENTLY ESTABLISHED AND DWELL IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD.

11
Gen 30:22-24
22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb.
23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace."
24 She named him Joseph, and said, "May the Lord add to me another son."

THIS MEANS FRUITFULNESS, NOW SHALL THE LORD ADD ANOTHER SON TO ME, ADDITION ,DIVINE FRUITFULNESS. AT THIS POINT YOU START BEARING FRUITS AND YOUR FRUITS WILL REMAIN.


12
Gen 35:16-18
16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.
17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son."
18 As she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
NIV

THE LAST MAN OF THE HOUSE, BENJAMIN, SON OF MY RIGHT HAND. HIS MOTHER NAMED HIM SON OF SORROW BUT THE FATHER SAID NO, THIS IS THE SON OF MY RIGHT HAND WHICH MEANS BENJAMIN, AFTER WE HAVE FINISHED OUR RACE AND FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH WE WILL SEAT AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD WITH CHRIST WHICH MEANS DIVINE AUTHORITY. ONLY OVERCOMER'S WILL GET TO THIS LEVEL MAY WE ALL BE PARTAKERS OF HIS AUTHORITY IN JESUS NAME. AMEN.

1. REUBEN….DIVINE SIGHT
2. SIMEON….DIVINE HEARING
3. LEVI………DIVINE JOINING
4. JUDAH…….DIVINE LEADERSHIP
5. DAN……….DIVINE JUDGEMENT
6. NAPTALI….DIVINE STRENGTH
7. GAD……….DIVINE TROOP OR COMMUNITY
8. ASHER……..DIVINE JOY
9. ISSACHAR….DIVINE WEALTH
10. ZUBULUM….DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT
11. JOSEPH…….DIVINE FRUITFULNESS
12. BENJAMIN…DIVINE AUTHORITY

THANK YOU LORD.

THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TABERNACLE

The Man Who Built The Tabernacle
We have dealt considerably with this matter of "waiting", because we (like Moses) must come to know God’s ways if we are to become involved with Him in the true Tabernacle "not made with hands." At the age of 40 Moses may well have argued with himself: "What am I waiting for? I am Israel’s deliverer. I shall go forth and do what I can." We all know what disappointment and frustration he suffered. Nevertheless in the wilderness of Midian Moses learned much of God’s ways. It took him 40 years, but he learned the lesson well. He learned about his own inadequacy and helplessness, his own unworthiness and his own deficiencies. A learning course of this nature will usually require a lot longer period of time than the three or four years one might spend in a Bible School or Seminary to discover one’s abilities and potential!
But what was the result of it all? Moses accomplished in one single night what he had longed to accomplish as a powerful young prince in Egypt at the age of 40. God waited till he was 80 years of age--alienated from the favour he once had with Pharaoh, and stripped of all confidence in his own abilities--before God called him as a helpless shepherd, with nothing but a stick in his hand, to go back to Egypt and deliver a whole nation out of slavery. He had learned much of God’s ways as he tended the sheep in Midian. He would learn much more, as he became the first shepherd of Israel. He would talk with God "face to face," as God gave him living oracles, written with the finger of God on tables of stone. And to Moses was given the pattern for the Tabernacle, which was to become God’s dwelling place in the midst of His people.

Is God Really Late?
Yes, God is always late by man’s standards; but He is right on time according to His own plan and purpose. And this is what makes it all the more frustrating to those who embrace His Word and promise. If only He would delay the promise until the time drew near for Him to fulfil it! Then perhaps we could bear up under it, for we would not have the Word of the promise to torment our impatient spirit.
But we have learned that this is all part of the training course. It is in this "waiting period" that we find time to do our best--to try, and fail, and try again. Or perhaps to try again and succeed, or at least assure ourselves that we have succeeded, only to come to still greater devastation when God comes on the scene and rejects our vain efforts to build His Kingdom. May we learn this important lesson once for all: that in our natural strength and wisdom we can do nothing, and that what things we consider to be successful must be laid aside as mere refuse, for the knowledge of Christ.
God gave Abraham the promise early, but fulfilled it late. As Abraham waited (and no doubt experienced much trial and frustration) he learned the ways of the Lord and became the father of the faithful for all generations to come.
God gave Joseph the promise early, and fulfilled it late. The "word" that Joseph embraced as a promise became the "word" that tried him severely (Ps. 105:19). We need to remember this: the vision the Lord gives us becomes our trial. But that same "word" brought Joseph out of the dungeon to be a ruler and deliverer, and a sustainer of life to surrounding nations.
God gave David the promise early, and fulfilled it late. But the trials that he went through wrought in him a heart "after the heart of God." And the shepherd boy from Bethlehem became a shepherd-king over all Israel.
God gave the whole human race the promise early, and fulfilled it late. God promised that the "seed of the woman" would "bruise the serpent’s head." Men almost despaired of the promise, but "in the fullness of time" He came forth: "Late in time behold Him come...Offspring of a virgin’s womb."
No! God is not really late! Let us not submit to the pressure that is on God’s people these days "to get the job done." God is faithful to "watch over His Word to perform it." He is not trying His best to get a job done, He is bringing forth a New Creation. We are His "workmanship," the "masterpiece" that He is working on. "Wait, I say, on the LORD" (Ps. 27:14). For "he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

The Pattern Of The Tent
"And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount" (Ex. 25:40). As Moses dwelt in the midst of the celestial glory for 40 days and 40 nights, talking with God face to face, God gave him very detailed instructions for the building of the sanctuary. In this pattern we have a picture of the heavenly realm which was to be made manifest in the fullness of time. Paul calls the whole Levitical order "the example and shadow of heavenly things" (Heb. 8:5). Notice this very carefully: it was not a perfect representation of the real, but only a type, only a shadow. "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect" (Heb. 10:1).
Of course most Christians do not believe that "the very image" can bring perfection either. And if this be so God may be charged with abolishing a faulty religious system which could not bring perfection, and then replacing it with a new religious system which was still "faulty," if it too was not able to bring perfection to those who embraced it. We might just as well continue on with the sacrifices of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a red heifer, if the sacrifice of Christ can do no better. Why should He have suffered so much in vain? (God forbid the very suggestion! But it is not really mine. It is the suggestion of those who ignorantly deny the full efficacy of the blood of Christ to take away all sin.) For God has ordained that in the fullness of time the Substance of all Old Testament offering and sacrifice would be revealed; and that He would bring forth the perfection that the Old Testament pointed to in many of its types and shadows, but was never able to fulfil. The shadow speaks of an outline, a sketch. The "very image" speaks of that which is perfect, the real thing. So Christ is said to be the "image of the invisible God" and "the express image of His Person." He is not just a resemblance of God, but the exact similitude and expression of God in human form.
This is important for us to remember. For in our study of the tabernacles and temples of God we are going to discover that the pattern changes as one temple replaces another; and the tabernacle or temple that has gone into ruin and later restored is vastly different than the original structure. Why would God see fit to change the pattern from time to time? For the simple reason that it was just a shadow of the heavenly realm; and in changing it we have a different view of what God had in mind, as He outlined the substance in a somewhat different light, perhaps in a more brilliant light. Finally the heavenly Temple is revealed and manifested in Christ Himself Who declared Himself to be the very Temple of God in the earth. "Destroy this temple," He said, "And in three days I will raise it up" (Jn. 2:19). He was not the shadow, but the "very image." But there was to be a further expression of the "very image" as the Lord Jesus was glorified; that from the throne of Zion’s holy mountain He might rule and reign as "head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23). His intention being to build the Church together "for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:22). Yes, God needs His people because He needs a permanent Home in which He might dwell--a Home that is compatible with His own nature and character.
Try as Israel may, therefore, to bring about a restoration of her glory to something that might equate the glory she had in the days of David, or Solomon, she will not succeed. And try as the Church may to bring about a restoration to something that might resemble the glory of early apostolic days, she too is going to be greatly frustrated and perplexed. Whether we speak of natural Israel or the Church, in striving for something that is far below God’s intention, we fail to see and to anticipate the greater glory that God has in mind. For He has promised "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (Hag. 2:9). Many good ministers are puzzled as they try their best to re-establish the order and structure of the "New Testament Church." But if God has something "new" in mind, the Holy Spirit (Who is the Vicar of Christ on earth) will not seek to accommodate those who are endeavoring to bring about this kind of restoration. God has still greater things in mind. Certainly He will restore that which was lost, and the years that the caterpillar, the cankerworm, the palmerworm, and the locust have eaten. But when God has a new order in mind, in vain do we try to restore the old one. Fundamental principles of truth remain unchanged, for Jesus Christ is the Truth, and therefore eternal and unchangeable. But until the fullness of Christ is formed within His people, God will continue to do new things and bring about a new order wherein His people shall walk. And all this will be in strict conformity to the revealed Word of God, quickened and made alive to His people in the day when He arises to perform the intentions of His heart. Invariably when God moves forward with His people it is the quickening Word that leads them forth into new things. It is always according to scripture. And God always confirms what He is doing in many, many ways, so as to encourage His people to move on with Him. The trumpet sound is certain and clear. His sheep know the Voice, and they seek to follow in obedience.
The General Plan Of The Tabernacle
The Tent was situated in the very centre of the camp of Israel, and over the Tent the cloud of His glory rested, day and night: by day as a pillar of cloud, and by night as a pillar of fire. It was God Himself dwelling in the midst of His people. The Tent faced the east, and there in the front of the gate were the tents of Moses and Aaron, who were responsible for the conduct of all who ministered in the sanctuary. Facing the east, it would speak to us of the promise of a "new day." The Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem also faced the east. For the promise is, "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings" (Mal. 4:2).
As one might look down upon the Tabernacle from the hillsides, with thousands of little tents surrounding it, and God’s glory covering the sanctuary like a canopy, one could not help but be aware that here was a distinct people, a separate people, a holy nation. Balaam the sorcerer wanted to curse them. He was going to be paid well for doing it. But in the spirit of prophecy he was compelled to say:
"From the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, the people shall dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations" (Num. 23:9).
And again,
"How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
And thy tabernacles, O Israel!" (Num. 24:5).
And yet, even at that very moment the people were disheartened, discouraged, and disobedient. They were filled with murmuring and complaining because of the bitterness of the way, and the drought and barrenness of the wilderness journey. Oh, that we had eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a heart to perceive, that we might behold ourselves for a moment from God’s viewpoint, and from the viewpoint of angels and principalities and powers of the heavenly realm! We may excuse Israel, for theirs was a covenant of death, a covenant of fading glory. But how shall we excuse ourselves who have been made partakers of a covenant of life, and a covenant of ever-increasing glory, and dwell in a Tabernacle "which the Lord pitched, and not man"?
The Tent itself had a partition called the veil, which separated the holy place from the most holy. Then surrounding the Tent, as well as the laver and the brazen altar which were outside the Tent, was an enclosure composed of fine linen hanging on posts which were placed in brazen sockets in the desert sand. This was called the outer court; and the linen surrounding it was much like a fence, which the priests entered from the east side in the course of their ministry. Altogether, then, we have three areas: the outer court, the holy place, and the holy of holies. There at the eastern gate the sinning Israelite would bring his sacrifice to the priest. The priest and Levite would then take the sacrifice to the brazen altar which was situated just inside the gate, sacrifice it unto the Lord, and the sinning Israelite could go away free--until he sinned again. Nor could he go into the sanctuary itself, for that was reserved for the priests. This was no arbitrary arrangement on God’s part. His heart longed for a whole nation of kings and priests, and in the fullness of time He would create such a nation. God had promised them: "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). Because of their disobedience they could not attain to it then, and the promise remained unfulfilled. When the true Sacrifice was made, and an unchanging priesthood was established in Christ, the promise was once again brought forward from God’s heart: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Pet. 2:9). This too has failed to materialize in fullness, but the promise is there, and it remains for those who will go God’s way--all the way. Let there be no misunderstanding here: what God declares concerning us is true. But He makes His declarations in the New Covenant that we might embrace them by faith and appropriate them, until the truth becomes practical and vital in our lives.
This truth we must emphasize over and over again, for we are living in a day when so-called positional truth, and dispensational truth have almost nullified the Word of God, and robbed God’s people of the glory that He has for them. If men do not like the truth they can readily relegate it to some dispensation other than the one we are living in. Or if it is definitely truth for this dispensation, then they have a way of relegating it to the heavens. "That’s positional truth. It’s not something you experience today." But the answer is clear from the Word of God: It is ours and we must press toward the mark, "if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12). What God has elected and chosen for me, to that end I must press on. I know I cannot go beyond faith, or beyond the Word, nor do I desire to do so. But "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17).
"Therefore, Oh Lord, give us hearing ears that we may hear Your truth. Give us open eyes to behold Your glory. Give us understanding hearts to perceive Your ways. There are no limits in You, and You have erected no barriers to the man of faith. But there are barriers that we often erect in our own hearts--hearts which are prone to presumption and unbelief. But as You would possess our reins with the pure and holy mind of Christ, then we shall truly walk with You in the pure light of Your holiness and truth, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Truly You are Light and Life in all Your Being, and if we abide under Your shadow we shall walk, not in darkness, for Your shadow is one of pure light; and every trace of sin and the carnal nature must vanish away in the pure Light of Your presence."

The Furnishings Of The Tent
Exodus 25
Inside the Tent, as we mentioned, there were two compartments: the first called the holy place, and the second (behind the veil) called the holy of holies. Entering the holy place through the five pillars we would see the table of shewbread on our right (the north), the candlestick on our left (the south), and the altar of incense toward the west just in front of the veil. It really belonged inside the veil (according to Hebrews 9:4) but was placed just outside the veil so the priests would always have access to it. Then behind the veil, as one would enter, we would find the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat.
Everything in the Tent speaks of Christ, and of His people who are in union with Him. Nothing on earth could adequately portray and symbolize that which pertains to His glory; and that is why so many, many types are used, that in each type and symbol some particular aspect of His glory may faintly be seen. The shittim wood (or acacia) would speak of the weakness of Christ’s humanity, and the gold that covered it, His divine Glory. The lamb or goat or turtledove that was slain would speak of His sacrifice; the blood of His own incorruptible Blood. The priest speaks of our great High Priest; and the veil he went behind to make atonement for sins speaks of His flesh, that was torn asunder for us at the Cross, that we might enter into His presence. The ark would speak of God’s presence, the place where God’s glory dwelt. The hidden manna in the ark, of that living bread which came down from Heaven. The linen curtains, of His own righteousness, by which we are clothed, and in which we are enclosed. And so we could go on and on. We will not touch on a lot of this detail, as we are primarily concerned in this study with the broad outline of the Tent, and its relationship with the other sanctuaries that would follow in the days to come. And so here we will concentrate upon the holy of holies and the contents of this area; for this was the particular dwelling place of the Most High.
The Ark Of The Covenant
The ark of the covenant (the covering of which was called the mercy seat) was hidden away behind the veil in the holy of holies. It was there before the ark of the covenant that the high priest would stand "once in the year" with the blood of goats; and while there, clothed upon with holy garments, and with Urim and Thummim in his breastplate, he would have a brief time of communication with God. God said to Moses, "They shall make an ark of shittim wood... And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat." (See Ex. 25:10-22.) God begins here with the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. We would be inclined to begin with the outer court, the doorway into it, and the brazen altar, for this is what we would see first as we drew near to God. But God’s order is different: He begins from Himself and draws near to man. Jesus said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (Jn. 6:44). Our life in Christ is the result rather than the cause of our salvation. We find it difficult to reconcile the sovereign call of God with our responsibility to that call; and no doubt this is the reason there has been so much argument in this whole matter of election and free will. Usually we would emphasize one aspect of truth to the neglect of the other, because it is difficult for us to reconcile opposites of truth in our thinking. Perhaps it is for this reason that God has seen fit to raise up different ministries from time to time and anoint them to emphasize what others have neglected. Calvin was sent of God to establish the truth of God’s sovereignty. But as men began to presume that they were "elect" of God because they believed in the doctrine of election, God saw fit to raise up others who would exhort men to make their "calling and election sure." In God’s portrayal of truth we have many opposites; and there is no way we can reconcile them by human reasoning, or by diluting the truth with compromise in order to make it appear acceptable and logical. Many speak of man’s free will as if that were more important than God’s sovereign will. I must be sufficiently sovereign to choose or reject God. But God must not be so sovereign as to choose or reject me! The Potter must not really have any right over the clay, but the clay in the final analysis must have the deciding vote! The distinction that God made between Jacob and Esau was not because of goodness in the one, or evil in the other. "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger" (Rom. 9:11-12). The apostle makes it very clear that good or evil in the two boys was not to be considered as a motivating factor in God’s choice of the one, and His rejection of the other. It was simply that it was God’s choice "that the purpose of God according to election might stand."
Sometimes it is hard to reconcile a truth like this with other aspects of God’s dealings with men, as we hear Him crying out to his rebellious people to pay heed to His gracious call, and to walk in His ways. Nor does believing in the doctrine of election make me to be one of the elect. I cannot afford to presume. For my part, I must be diligent to make my "calling and election sure," and follow on to know Him. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them." And this gives me great courage and confidence, as it was intended to do. But it also goes on to say, "My sheep... follow me." And therefore I must not presume to be one of the elect sheep of God’s pasture if I am not hearing His voice, and seeking to follow Him. Those who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion are not only called and chosen, they are also faithful. Why must I be able to reconcile the seeming opposites in God in order to believe what He says in either case? I, who am but dust and ashes? Must I dilute the clear declarations of God’s Word in order to make them acceptable in the minds of the people, or understandable in my own finite mind? Can we not simply recognize that as yet we "see through a glass darkly" and find joy in believing where we cannot understand, simply because the infinite God has declared it?
God begins with the ark of the covenant because it is His dwelling place, and He must begin from Himself because He is God. When I come on the scene I hear His creative call, and I obey and begin to serve Him. I have the feeling that I am drawing near to Him, that I am being obedient and faithful, and all this is true. But sooner or later I must confess: "Lord, You caused me to approach unto You! You called me, and I came forth because it was a creative Word, just as when You called light to come forth out of darkness in the beginning." (See 2 Cor. 4:6.) No mere invitation that! It was a sovereign, commanding, creative Word that I heard. I yielded to His love, and I submitted to His dealings in my life, that is true. But then, shall the snowflake boast of yielding and melting when the sun sends forth its torrid rays upon the earth? Or shall the sands of the seashore that are overwhelmed with the oceans rise up and say, "Well, after all, I surrendered to the rising of the tides"? Or the flimsy reed that bends and breaks when the winds blow upon it, is it going to boast, "But don’t forget, I submitted to the winds that blew"? Or is the apostle Paul, smitten down on the Damascus Road by a mighty lightning stroke from Heaven going to boast, "I did my part, when God shone forth from heaven and blinded my eyes, I fell off my horse"?
We do not really need to understand all about it now, nor yet be troubled with what appears to be conflicting areas of truth. One day we will know and understand that everything God ever did was consistent with His justice and righteousness--and at the same time consistent with His heart of pure love!
God begins with the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, because He begins from Himself, works His way out toward Man, and draws him unto Himself. God wants us to know that "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Let us not draw back from the truth because we are not always able to reconcile it with God’s justice or with His love. But let us embrace the truth because He declared it... and because we know and are assured that He will do the thing that is absolutely right. Let us embrace the truth He declares, not to fortify ourselves with arguments, but that we might enter into true rest. For indeed this is why He makes the truth known to our hearts and minds.
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Rom. 8:29-30). Let us start with God. We miss so much if we start with the word "justified." God begins from Himself.
Foreknowledge. God knew His people long before they were born-even from the foundation of the world. This knowledge does not merely concern things He knew about them, or things they would do; for God certainly knows everything and everybody, and all that they will do, whether they be good or bad. But here God speaks of certain ones "whom he did foreknow."
Predestination. This comes next... and it is not a frightening word. It simply means "to mark out beforehand." When I seek God and live for Him and seek to walk in His ways, I am not framing my own destiny. I am rather fulfilling a destiny that was predetermined from the foundation of the world. That is why "there remaineth therefore a rest [a sabbath] to the people of God" (Heb. 4:9). I know and believe that the pathway that He has marked out for me is one that is good, and that it is intended to bring me into full conformity to the image of His Son. My sins and faults and failures, and the fleshly strivings of my carnal mind, all these are inevitable; and I must not blame God for that. But I also know that He does not intend to change His plan because of my weakness. He knows what I am made of. And by the wonder of His grace and power He takes each failure, each mistake, transforms them one by one into steppingstones along the divinely chosen pathway in which I walk, giving "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit heaviness."
Called. Once we recognize that He foreknew and predestinated us, then we know for sure that His call was a creative Word, and not a mere invitation. There is a cause behind the call that reaches back and beyond the foundations of the world. And the cause is hidden in His own heart of Love--He doesn’t tell us why He loved us so.
Justified. This is something we become aware of as we embrace Jesus Christ as our Saviour; and therefore we might be inclined to think it all started here. But it all started away back from the foundations of the world, in the heart of God.
Glorified. This is yet to come. But it is used in the Aorist tense in the Greek; and I am told this can indicate a once-for-all action in the past, or an action in the future that is sure to come to pass! God is speaking from the mercy seat, and He says He has glorified us! For He is looking at the finished product as One speaking from the viewpoint of eternity, as One Who is well able to declare the end from the beginning, because He is able to bring it to pass.
Contents Of The Ark
Three different things were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, at different intervals.
The Pot Of Manna
When the manna fell in the wilderness, the people did not know what it was, and they asked one another, "What is it?... What is it?" And so that is what they named it; for "manna" simply means, "What is it?" Nobody in Israel could answer that question adequately. All they were to know was this: it was bread from heaven. Jesus alone could give the real answer: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (Jn. 6:5 1). But the pot of manna was to be kept as a memorial. No one ate of this bread. And unlike the rest of the manna that fell around the camp, this bread did not go into corruption, or waste away. Laid away in the ark of the covenant it was to be kept throughout their generations. Israel had the manna-bread daily as it fell from heaven.
The priests had Sabbath-bread which they ate weekly: the shewbread that had been on the table in the holy place throughout the previous six working days, but not eaten until the Sabbath day.
But here in the holy of holies was "hidden manna." It was not available even to the priests. It was not seen by any mortal eye. It is a type of the Living Christ. It is bread that has been reserved for the overcomer. For Jesus said, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17).
Aaron’s Rod That Budded
A controversy had arisen in Israel over the authority of God’s priests. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with certain others, rose up against Moses and Aaron and charged that they were exalting themselves above the others by keeping the priesthood to themselves. It is awesome how God vindicated His chosen ones; for the very ground next to the Tabernacle opened up and swallowed the gainsayers alive into the pit of Sheol. The next day the people went on murmuring, complaining that Moses and Aaron had slain the Lord’s people. Then God sent a great plague, which was removed only when Aaron ran into their midst with a burning censer, and stood between the living and the dead.
God always vindicates His own in one way or another. But they must not seek to vindicate themselves, as they do so often. Not so in the case of Moses and Aaron. They fell on their faces before God when they were challenged, and God came forth on their behalf. Not only so, but when the plague fell on the murmurers they sought God on their behalf, as true priests of God, and stood between the living and the dead with the burning censer. In type they were saying, "Lord, if our life is unto You as sweet incense, then hear our prayer, and lay not this sin to their charge." God gives authority to His servants who least desire it, and there is no need on their part to try to maintain it. They did not seek it in the first place, then why should they try to uphold it? Invariably, we have observed, when men try to grasp authority or to maintain the authority they have, they lose it. If God gives it, then it is His responsibility to stand behind His chosen ones.
To settle the whole matter Moses ordained that each of the tribes present their "rod" before the Lord. Each rod was a dead, dry stick. Their name was to be clearly marked on the rod, and the rod of Aaron was placed among them. They were all laid together before the ark of the covenant, and the next morning they were brought out and presented to the people. All the rods were the same as before, except Aaron’s. Overnight it had brought forth buds, blossoms, and almonds. (See Num. 17:7-10.) (And let this be a reminder to God’s people who seem to have the notion that God must have years and years and years to bring forth this glorious and fruitful Church that He has promised. He can do it overnight if He chooses to do so!)
The word "almond" means "awaker," because it is one of the first trees to bud in the time of spring. It speaks of Christ in resurrection life, the firstfruits unto God, risen and glorified at God’s right hand. But it also speaks of resurrection life revealed in the mortal flesh of His people--in such as are planted together with Him in His death. You will recall how Aaron’s rod was used to swallow up the rods of the magicians in Egypt, and then it became an ordinary stick again in his hands. Death is to be swallowed up in life. Just overnight it became a fruitful branch, and brought forth almonds!
"O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?"
The Tables Of Testimony
These likewise were laid away in the ark of the covenant. Moses had been up on the mount with the LORD for 40 days and 40 nights, receiving the oracles of God and the pattern of the Tabernacle. The sight of the glory of the LORD was "like devouring fire" as the children of Israel beheld it; but Moses went right into the midst of the cloud and talked "face to face" with God. Before he returned to the camp God gave him two tables of stone, "written with the finger of God" (Ex. 31:18). But in the meantime the children of Israel were getting restless, and gathering together before Aaron they requested that he should make them "gods" which would go before them, as Moses seemed to have disappeared. Aaron yielded to them and made the golden calf, which the children of Israel began to worship. Though a redeemed people because of the passover lamb which had been sacrificed in Egypt, the idolatrous spirit of Egypt still clung to them. They had been delivered out of Egypt, but Egypt had not been taken out of them; and this is what the wilderness story is all about. As Moses returned from the mount with the two tables of testimony in his hand, and saw their rebellion and idolatry, he shattered the tables at the foot of the mountain. It speaks to us of a broken law, the law which no man could keep, the law which was later to be called "the ministration of condemnation" and "the ministration of death." God knew that the law would become this kind of ministration before He gave it, but man in his self-confidence would never believe it until he proved it for himself. And God had to show him, through the ministration of the law, the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the weakness of the flesh, and demonstrate man’s inability to respond to God’s holy requirements. Therefore the law accomplished nothing for man except this (and of course this is important): it paved the way for the manifestation of the New Covenant by revealing man’s helplessness and depravity, and acting like a "schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" (Gal. 3:24).
Moses, as a true priest of the Lord, interceded on behalf of the people, and God spared them, judged them, and instructed Moses to lead them forward to the Promised Land. For the task before him Moses sought the Lord for added grace and added glory. "Shew me now thy way," he pleaded; and again, "Shew me thy glory" (Ex. 33:13, 18). Once again Moses is called up into the Mount of God; and once again God writes His holy law upon the two tables of stone that Moses took up with him. But for these two tables of the covenant God had a different purpose in mind.
God does not really repeat Himself--at least not in exactly the same way. Never does He do anything the second time, in like manner as He did it the first time. Let us always bear this in mind as we anticipate the restorations of God which He has promised in His Word. When He restores that which was lost, it is restored on a higher and more glorious level than before. Failing to recognize this can only lead to frustration, as we vainly seek to restore some religious structure of the past which God had used and then laid aside. God does not make a "second try," and then a "third try." He is doing exactly as He had planned. Therefore the second tables of the covenant did not mean that God was trying again. God was doing something new. This time God commanded Moses to put the tables inside the ark of the covenant. The ark was covered over with the mercy seat, behind the veil, in the holy of holies, entirely beyond the reach or the view of a disobedient and erring people.
God would instruct us that in giving the old covenant He knew that man could not keep it; and that in giving the new covenant, He Himself would be responsible to see that it was fulfilled. He Himself would write the new covenant upon the hearts and minds of His people. He took away the old covenant which demanded righteousness, and brought in the new covenant which provided it. He did not establish the new covenant so that man could sin and still be free from condemnation; but rather that man might be made free from both the sin and the guilt of it, and might love Him and serve Him on a far higher plane than was ever possible under the law. For the full intent of the law was that man should love the Lord God with all his heart and mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. And when this has been fulfilled in the hearts of men, God is completely satisfied. God is Love... and therefore He cannot be satisfied until His own nature and character is formed within His people, who were created in His image. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:34).

HOLINESS

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

Holiness requires constant prayer, constant vigilance and continuing sensitivity to the rebuke and approval of the Holy Spirit. Every time the Holy Spirit reproves us of a sinful thought, word or action, we must be quick to confess our sin (I John 1:9).

The Laver, then, portrays the cleansing of the Christian in preparation for priestly service. The believer first is cleansed in water baptism. Our original personality by faith is assigned to the cross with Christ so that the Holy Spirit may render powerless our sinful nature. We then by faith rise with Christ so we may walk in a new life of righteous conduct.

Now that we have entered Christ's death and resurrection we have the power to choose to be a servant of righteousness. Prior to our baptism in water we were under the authority of darkness and had to serve sin whether we wanted to or not. But now that our old life has been assigned to the cross with Christ we are free to choose to serve God.

We must keep ourselves clean each day. The reading of the Scriptures will help greatly ("Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."—Psalms 119:11). When the New Testament tells us to put away adultery, fornication, filthy speech, lying, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, then we must cease doing these things.

Time must be set aside for prayer each day, and in addition there must be a continuing attitude of prayer on our part. We need help from the prayers, counsel and ministry of other Christians. We must confess our sins to God as the Holy Spirit points them out to us. Sometimes we have to ask forgiveness of other people, or make restitution if we have harmed someone.

A dirty Christian will be taken and washed by the Lord if he will not wash himself! (I Corinthians 11:31,32; I John 3;3).

Every Christian is called to be a priest of the Lord. We are the "royal priesthood." The Holy Spirit will lead us in a ministry of the Spirit's own choice. There is no Christian who does not have a place of ministry. It does not matter whether his or her gift and ministry is small in the eyes of people. The Holy Spirit expects faithful service in the assigned responsibilities. In order for the Christian to be effective in his ministry he must keep himself absolutely clean, just as was true of an Old Testament priest.
REF..PAS ROBERT
It is our Christian duty to keep ourselves pure, always remaining in an attitude of prayer so that our service to God will be acceptable.

God requires of His priests that they be holy in deed, word, and thought, and that their hearts and minds be stayed on Him at all times, day and night. The success of our ministry will depend on our willingness to keep ourselves set apart (sanctified) to the Lord so that our priestly intercession and ministry is always acceptable to Him.

To be continued

SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION

THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION

I STRUGGLE WITH TEACHING DEEP THINGS TO AN UNDISCIPLINED SOUL BUT I KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY WISHING TO KNOW THE TRUTH. THE DAY OF REST OF GOD CAME AFTER HE CREATED MAN AND WE MUST NOT LOSS FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT A THOUSAND YEARS TO THE LORD IS AS A DAY, CREATION TOOK 6 DAY AND BY CALCULATION NOW WE ARE IN THE EVENING OF THE SIXTH DAY, THE DAY OF THE LORD WHICH IS HIS DAY OF REST IS WHAT IS UPON US NOW AND WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE AT THE VERGE OF HISTORY, THE TIMES OF IGNORANCE SHALL GOD FORGIVE BUT NOW HE CALLS ALL MEN TO REPENTANCE.

OUR INHERITANCE AND FUTURE WILL BE BASED ON IF WE REACH PERFECTION WHICH IS THE FORMATION OF CHRIST IN US OR IF ANOTHER NATURE IS FORMED IN US.

ANOTHER THING THAT MAKES ME DESPAIR IS THE FACT THAT AS CHRISTIANS, WE DO NOT STUDY TO SHOW OURSELVES APPROVED A WORKMAN THAT NEED NOT BE ASHAMED RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH, WE DO NOT CHECK TO BE SURE OF THE DOCTRINES HANDED DOWN TO US BY OTHERS, WE ONLY ACCEPT THINGS THAT DO NOT CONFORM WITH THE TRUTHS OF GOD, OR WITH HALF TRUTH THAT HAS HELPED WATERED DOWN THE TRUTH THAT WOULD HAVE LED US INTO PERFECTION WHICH IS THE ORIGINAL PLAN OF GOD. PLEASE READ WITH OPEN HEART AND CHECK TO BE SURE FROM THE WORD.

DAY ONE
I have been studying the work of God in the first seven days of creation in the book Types in Genesis by Andrew Jukes. It is a golden oldie written around 1870. For some, it is difficult to read with its long sentences so I thought I’d break it down and add my thoughts to it to make it more clear to the understanding. There is a tremendous amount of truth hidden in the work of creation that has to do with the work that the Lord is doing in our lives.(ELAINE COOK)

In Genesis l:l, a creation of God is announced. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Then a partial ruin was shown, followed by a restoration. "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." In some way not revealed, God’s work had been destroyed. The term ‘without form and void’ describes a state of judgment and utter ruin. God, in six days, restores that earth, now ruined and dark.

This natural earth is but a picture where God portrays His mighty plan and purpose that He has for His creation, made of earth, even man. He wrote His plan of restoration upon the natural earth for all to see; He wrote it in the sky, in the starry heavens; He wrote it in the journeyings of His people Israel from Egypt to Canaan; He wrote it in the pattern of His holy Tabernacle. He wanted us to see the beginning and end of His great plan of salvation — that, though we began, as this earth — earthy, void and formless, with an unknown deep within, He would care for His creature and would send His Spirit over it. ". . . the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

God works through six successive days to bring forth the highest expressions of His creation — man in His image and likeness, in whom He can dwell and have His being. All nature shows us this progression of growth: first the blade, the ear, and then the full corn in the ear; the babe, the child, the perfect man.

Gen. 1:3-5 shows us the course of the First Day. "And God said, Let there be light. . . " The Light of God moves upon the darkened soul, proceeding from their darkness (evening) until morning. Light shines out and is divided from the darkness in us. Thus darkness receives a BOUND. At this stage, the work of God is BOUNDING AND DIVIDING. A separation takes place between that which is of SELF and that which is of GOD. At this stage we are submitting to have what is natural to us restrained, and thus we learn to distinguish HIS WORK from what is ours in us. At the same time, we are taught to call things as God calls them. The character of each is marked by a name bestowed on each — the person begins to know the thoughts of God.

God called the light, DAY, or ‘movement’. This means there is a disturbance of the darkness in the soul. The person is no longer comfortable going their own way and doing their own thing. The light has shone upon their heart, and is disturbing the former darkness. The darkness is called NIGHT, or ‘deviation’ — a turning from the right, or the straight line. The light will reveal this ‘missing the mark’. We are being taught to call things as God calls them, as He reveals the nature of our darkness, and the light shows us our condition.

Though light has come, darkness still at times threatens to rule! The shades of temptation and the light of faith alternate for a while, till the day of rest comes, without an evening. The darkness reminds us of what the creature is in itself. The light shows us what it is in Christ, the Word of God. Some bitterly judge themselves because as yet the image of God is not revealed in them. Wait in patience! He who hath begun the good work will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. On the first three days, in creation and in man, God is but BOUNDING AND DIVIDING. There is no fruit at this stage, but a learning of what is of God (light) and what is of the creature (darkness). 



DAY TWO
In Day One we saw how "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." In our unregenerate condition we were "without form and void and darkness was upon the face of our deep." All we knew was the unstable element of the waters (soul) that caused us to toss to and fro upon our thoughts, will and emotions.

Then God spoke and said, "Let there be light!" Then He divided the light and called it day or movement. And the darkness He called night or deviation. Night is darkness put within limits. At this first step, we know only a general sense of sin but do not understand the exact state of things. Light comes and separates our darkness, but as yet there is no heaven formed within, and no firm earth. It is by degrees that we learn our state and blessed is it that it is so, or we should despair of ever coming into His image and likeness. In Day Two, an expanse of heaven is formed in the creature. By this heaven, the unbounded waters are divided from the waters. At this stage, the creature begins to see that it is drowned in waters. Water is a type of the restless desires of the heart of fallen man: for "the wicked are like a troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" Isa. 57:20. Before regeneration, man is drowned in his own lusts and fleshly, soulish ways.

Now God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters" Gen.1:6-8. In the new creation man, these waters are not all removed at once; in fact, they are never fully removed until that state is reached where there is "no more sea" (no more soulish elements uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit). The waters are first divided by a heaven, which represents the understanding being opened. Up until now the understanding has been darkened. The natural man has no spiritual understanding. (Rev.21:1)

Some waters rise into the heavens — some of our desires and affections are raised and purified, and some remain as before — unquiet, and unbounded except by the heaven over them. God calls this expanse "heaven", that is, "the arranger" because it is the great agent in arranging everything. We recognize three kingdoms — animal, vegetable, and mineral, but Genesis shows us another, called the meteoric. This "heaven" or meteoric kingdom, formed of old over the earth, before the mineral, or vegetable, or animal, was called by God "the arranger." It performed marvels which we now call attraction, repulsion, electricity, and evaporation.

Consider now the spiritual counterpart of this. There is a heaven formed within by the Word. This heaven is the arranger, and it must do its work in man before gold and fruits and living creatures can come forth in his life. If we desire to bear true fruit, it must be by the work of "the arranger" working within by the Word of God — to attract, to repel, to empower, or to dry up the soulish waters. The spiritual understanding must begin to be opened up before there can be any earth seen. As yet, there is nothing "stablished, strengthened, and settled", for the waters still prevail until the Third Day. If you find yourself at this stage, take heart, for resurrection morning comes, bringing with it much new life: herb, and tree, and seed upon the land that is now dry and can support life. Wait for it, for it shall surely come, for God works until the seventh day — He rests when He has created man in His image and likeness! 



DAY THREE
On the Third Day, the earth rises out of the waters. Gen.l:9-10, "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." Once the firm earth arises we find that we are "no more tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, but may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head, even Christ." We find this begins to be true in our lives. The will, which had been overwhelmed with tossing lusts, rises above them to become fruitful. The soul, once lost in passions, and in self-serving, emerges from the deep. For God hath said to the Seas, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further, and here shall thy waves of pride be stayed" Job 38:8,11. They may yet roar against our land, but from this time they cannot overflow it. The lesson here is that it is in checking our desires — by bounding the unstable element in us — that we are made free!

God gives a name to the land and the waters. The "seas" are "tumults" or "agitations". "Earth" means "breaking in pieces; crumbling". It describes a substance which will permit itself to be reduced to powder, and so is fitted to take any form God pleases. It is ready to be framed by the will and wisdom of the Great Potter.

Following the bounding of the waters, fruitfulness begins to show forth, as in Rom.6:22, ". . . being made free from sin, we have fruit unto righteousness. . . " The first thing that comes forth is "grass" which is a type of the flesh. (I Pet.l:24). How is it that the regenerate man brings forth fruits that are of carnality? This has been a stumbling-block to both the Christian and the unbeliever. A common excuse for not yielding their life to Christ is: "The church is full of hypocrites!" We cannot deny that accusation, for as Paul, we have stumbled, saying, "The things I would do, I do not, but the things I would not, I do. O, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the creation show the day "from evening unto morning". In announcing the seventh day, no mention is made of evening, so this should attract our notice. Evening is the state preceding and tending to night or darkness. In the day of God’s rest, darkness and shadows have no place.

This day is the dawn of heaven itself when : "at even time it shall be light", for the days "shall be as "one day". Finally, the soul of man is fit to bear unbroken day and its very "darkness can be even as the noon day." (Zech. 14:7; Isa.58:10). Then comes this day of days, when "the sun shall no more go down, neither shall the moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be our everlasting light, and the days and nights of mourning shall be ended" Isa.60:20. This day is "as the days of heaven", whose "light is seven-fold (fullness) as the light of seven days" Isa.30:26. " No night is there" — nothing but God’s rest, and our rest in Him forever. (Rev. 21:25).

Enoch’s life was a mighty sign of this rest, for he "walked with God, and was not, for God took him." His life is the "seventh from Adam (Jude 14) and it speaks of a true sabbath of rest, for it could know no evening —no darkness nor decline of light in his life. He was a mighty type and shadow of the life we can expect to enter into on the Seventh Day. If we "walk with God" — His Mind ruling, our will obedient, we can expect to walk in His perfect Day and to know no darkness at all, and to have "no evening’ in our lives!

The Day of Rest reveals another characteristic of God. Through the days of labor, He is known as ELOHIM ("to swear; to keep covenant"). The covenant He made was that He would make man "in His image and likeness." On the Sabbath, He reveals Himself as the "Lord God" or JEHOVAH ("The Lord our righteousness; the Self-existent One"). Elohim is One whose power and oath we may rely on. This name speaks of His works, rather than of Himself. His name Jehovah tells us what He is, in His own perfections. At first, what God has done or will do, is more important to us than what He is. When the Rest comes, we learn to add what He is to what He does for us.

The creature is changed to a higher form on the Seventh Day. Instead of "herb and tree" we now have "a garden drest". The position of our garden is eastward — facing the dawning of the New Day, signifying a rising or advancing light and pleasures at God’s right hand for evermore. The man has been tested and has become that body of this death?" Until SELF is seen, there has been little overcoming.

The development of Adam proves that for a long time, the regenerate man is yet carnal, and he brings forth fleshly fruits, though in his heart he desires to glorify God in his life. Remember — the Corinthians had many spiritual gifts, yet they were carnal. Next, comes "herb and tree’ with "seed and fruit"— some 30, some 60, and some 100-fold. God’s precious fruits all have power to multiply themselves, for the seed is in itself. Daily we can enjoy an increase in love, peace, faith or truth — all to His praise who brings fruit out of our earth! Every act of love has in it the seed of other acts. Every lie breeds another lie, and here we see the law of sowing and reaping established within us. What we sow in our earth multiplies and comes forth — for good or for evil.

On the Third, or resurrection day, God’s power is known. Much has been done in us before we know "the power of resurrection". but "after two days He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord" Hosea 6:2,3. On this day the creature at last sees itself for what it is. The SELF-NATURE is revealed, and it can begin to put off DEATH and choose LIFE. In the last dispensation (the 2nd day), the nature of self was not known, so resurrection life was not apprehended (except in a few choice vessels).

It is when we understand our condition that the Spirit draws us away from the crowds who are serving God in forms and traditions of men. He calls us aside to teach us what we are and what He is that we may KNOW HIM in the power of His resurrection, and in the fellowship of His sufferings. On the Third Day the separating process ends, for things are now KNOWN. In the next three days, the work shall be furnishing and perfecting. 



DAY FOUR
Here is a summary of the first three days of creation:

(1) First, LIGHT upon the deep. Darkness is bound and named.

(2) Then, a HEAVEN is placed in the midst of the waters.

(3) Next, there is a lifting-up and working upon the EARTH, which until now had been buried and concealed. In these days, God’s proc ess in us is bounding — dividing in us between what is of SELF and what is of GOD.

After the Third Day, the work of God increases greatly, and is now adorning and perfecting. At this stage we are submitting to have what is natural in us restrained, and thus we learn to distinguish HIS WORK from what is OURS in us. Too, we are taught to call things as God calls them! Now we do not find "God called", but "God made" — being throughout perfecting. It is seen now that He not only "spoke and it was done,"but that "HE did it. As we grow in grace, we see that all things are of GOD.

When the earth is raised, many seem to think the work is done! But on the Fourth Day the perfecting and adorning process begins, not to cease until "the image of God" appears. Paul, in Col.3:l,l0 exhorts us to grow in grace in language corresponding to the stages of the last three days.

(1) "If ye be risen, seek things above." (Look for things in the heavenly realm of the Spirit to comfort and enlighten you. Light to guide will shine on you).

(2) Again, advance: "Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, longsuffering." (Put on the graces which are prefigured in the dove, the lamb, and the ox which appear on Day Five and Six).

(3) And then, "put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him." (Moses wrote "with a veil" — covered over, darkened understanding — but "the veil is done away in Christ," so we may see clearly and understand).

In Gen.1:14,15, LIGHTS are come on the Fourth Day. The sun, with warm, direct rays; the moon — cold, but shining, a reflection of the sun’s light. Both rule and affect the earth and the waters and bring a greater check to the darkness in Day and Night. After the Seas of lust are bound in us, the fruits of righteousness begin to grow and bud. A SUN — a mighty light — is kindled in our heaven. Christ — God’s eternal Word and wisdom, is no longer undefined, but with mighty warmth and power makes the whole creation to bud and spring heavenward.

Another light — the MOON — grows bright within. In the individual, the moon stands for our faith which is the light we re the flesh is nailed to the cross, and now the man is no longer double, but single and simple. One life now rules him, so on the dawning of the seventh day, the rest begins to come.

Isa. 58:13,14 tells us clearly what THE REST is. It is:

(1) to yield ourselves to God.

(2) to turn away our foot from doing our own pleasure. (3) not doing our own ways

(4) not speaking our own words

(5) not seeking to find our own pleasure

(6) THEN shall we delight ourselves in the Lord, and the creature finds joy in God, and God joy in the creature!

The nature of the Sabbath is: It is God’s rest. It is not as though He could be weary, but to show His satisfaction, to teach that, not only the work, but the rest is His (not the creature’s!) God has joy in seeing His work perfect. In the six days of labor, we see that all progress is because He works in us. When the Day of Rest is come, we know that He works that He may rest in us! Each fresh act of submission to His Word lead to His, even as to our, rest.

Specila notice should be taken that this rest is "blessed", for "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it." He blessed the day — that is, the creature’s state obtains the Lord’s blessing. "God sanctified" means He set it apart; he took it for Himself. In the days of labor, God does not get His own, but the day or state of rest is wholly His. God may get something from our works, but He gets much more when we rest and so pass out of self and its variableness wholly into His will.

On this day, "no evening" is seen. All days of labor begin in the darkness of the evening, as God said: "And the evening and the morning were the second day." Evening suggests a decline of light, a relapse or tendency to the creature’s own darkness. There is no possibility of that happening on the seventh day, for there is no mention whatever of an "evening", for the light has come to abide! On this day, man has come "to the image of God" and has let the mind of Christ rest upon him, and has yielded his will unto Him so that He, too, walks in God’s Day of Rest. O, glorious Day!

When something pertinent about a subject is omitted in scripture, it is done with purpose. All six days of God’s work upon His ye ought to be teachers. . . are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. . . strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age. . . " Heb.5:11-14. Paul longed for "the man" to come!

An example of having dominion over beasts would be: oxen, strong to labor, is a good attribute in any one, but it needs to be ordered by the Spirit of God, lest it labor for the work’s sake alone and not do that which is in God’s mind. This man was created "male and female". Man = understanding. Woman = the will or love-part of the mind, which together make up that inward man or mind by which we commune with God. When man has come to "the image of God" we find God’s Mind directing God’s Spirit, ruling over all the powers and graces that He bestows upon us. 



DAY FIVE
The Fifth Day’s work of creation is the peopling of the sea and air. "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven" Gen.l:20. The waters now swarm with life, and the air with winged birds. The work of the fifth day is in the seas and heaven. The seas (or waters) are our desires, emotions, mind — the soul realm. The heavens speak of our spiritual understanding.. Up until now, the waters have only been bound (our soulish desires have been checked to a degree, but not overcome).

At this stage in our development, new life moves in our soul. We begin to be aware that God is going to save our soul! With this realization we find ourselves begining to divide between what is soul and what is spirit in us. Before we came to this Day, we believed all that issued forth from us was spirit, but now we can divide the matter and see where the soul has ruled.

Now, new life moves in our soul — the varied forms of fish and fowl all picture some of the countless forms of Christ’s spirit. His fullness is so great that no one type can express it! His will for us is that we should be filled also; "to know the love of Christ which passeth k nowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God" Ephr.3:19. Whether it is light, a heaven, the seed, or sun and moon, each is but some manifestation in man of what was in CHRIST. So the turtle and the eagle are but types of some fresh gift or grace of Christ’s spirit.

The forms and natures of the creatures made on this Day explain themselves: dove = the figures of meek innocence; eagle = lofty flight, the keen vision of the spirit; rooster = one who foretells the morning; the thrush = to sing by day to cheer our weary moments; some, like the turtle, once widowed, never pair again. Each creature, in its own way, shows forth some gift or grace of the Spirit. Each tells its own story of what God can work in His people.

To man is added the likeness of the Dove, the Eagle, the Nightingale, and so on. Our emotions are moved upon by new life and are able to bring forth gifts and graces akin to the Spirit of Christ that were not seen before when the soul was not known and understood. Now that it is divided from the Spirit, we now have spiritual understanding of our emotional state and the Spirit can rule over it, bringing the soul into subjection unto the will of a higher power. For this is the order of God: that Spirit should rule over the soul, and the soul should remain in subjection to our spirit (which is one with the Holy Spirit). The desires of the soul are not now simply checked, they are ruled over on the Fifth Day, and what a peace that begins to bring to the troubled soul! When this stage is come, the image of God is near when the work shall cease, for all is "very good." 



DAY SIX
To review the stages after resurrection-life is known on the third day:

(1) through resurrection-light (Day 4)

(2) till we reach "the moving creatures" of sea and air (Day 5)

(3) on to new creatures of the earth — first creeping, then walking, but with face earthwards — then "the man", with open face, erect, looking upward, created in God’s image (Day 6). Gen.l:24-31.

On the Sixth Day the EARTH, that is, the WILL, brings forth.The living creatures of the earth represent the emotions connected with the WILL. Wherever the primitive language of symbols remains, the passions are still characterised by names of different beasts, and all peoples have read them alike. In some instances, the creature, in whom some trace of God is seen, is worshipped instead of the Creator. (e.g. sacred cows in India).

Each form of new creatures expresses some further fullness which was in Christ Jesus: e.g. the ox = the spirit of unselfish labor; the lion = holy wrath; the lamb = that meekness which bareth all things. At length, man is seen — the "image of God", to crown and perfect all and to have dominion over all.

What is this image? It is the MIND OF GOD IN US! When this is come, the "man" is formed — erect in walk, and looking upward; able to recognize the mind and will of One above him — with an understanding to know, and a will to love, God. This marks man above all other creatures: a mind able to understand and bow to a superior. Lose this, and he becomes as a beast, incapable of recognizing, save by force, the will of one above him. Like the horse or mule which has no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle. Or, like Nebuchadnezzar, in vain self-exaltation, losing his reason, and with a beast’s heart, becoming as a beast.

A mind to recognize and hold commnion with One above him, is what, above all, marks and makes the man. And this is the secret of his rule over others; as God said, "Subdue and have dominion." No one can rule who is not ruled over! Adam, while subject to God, had power over every living creature, a power he lost as soon as he rebelled, and instead of being subject, he became independent. It is the lack of recognizing the One above who gives power that now makes the rulers of this world helpless. Beasts are rebelling against them, because they have rebelled. (Think of Sadam Hussein against America!)

Not only beasts, but also God’s good gifts need to be ruled over! We see in the church at Corinth that the gifts were there, but the mind of God was lacking. The "man" must come to set them right. Paul told them, "I. . . could not speak unto you as unto spiritual (men), but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." And when he wanted to share some truths about the Melchisedec Priesthood to the Hebrews church, he had the same complaint: ". . . we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing . . . willing people who will serve Him "in the day of His power", even that Seventh Day! This is, as Joseph, God’s crowning work — a man who through suffering and denying self, comes to rule all things. This is our true Sabbath-Rest, and HIS IN US! 



DAY SEVEN
"Seven" speaks of completion or fullness, so it was on the Seventh Day that "God ended his work which he had made, and he rested. . . "Gen.2:2. This stage of rest is attained by only a few, but the Lord is calling His Own to arise and "labor to enter into His rest." He told His disciples, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests (in us) but He had "no place to lay His Head." There was no man willing to let His Mind resst upon him and to rule his life. This is the significatnt mark of the Seventh Day: The Lord is at rest, and He has a people who have come into His rest and have let His Mind be their portion. This is "the image of God" coming in man! The rest is come when, through the Word of God, HIS WILL IS DONE PERFECTLY. IF HIS WILL RULES, THERE WILL BE A REST.

This is the stage of full age or perfection when, instead of growth and change, and the struggle between the old state and the work of God within us, we reach the life of vison and of rest. Here we live above striving; we are at rest and full of peace. We are like a deep, still stream reflecting God and heaven, instead of a brawling river, reflecting nothing in its headlong rush to the sea.

At first, in our walk with God, we do not know this rest, for the flesh and the spirit strive together. The man, too, is yet "double" and lives in both flesh and spirit, thus he cannot know "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." The law in his members wars against the law of his mind, even though God’s true work is growing. In time, ceived from the testimony of scripture, or from another’s experience. Some groups specialize in testimonies, which is borrowed light, or faith. Faith is our MOON to rule over the night — our dark places, where we are ignorant of His ways.

stands for the CHURCH, which operates in a reflected glory. (The light has not as yet been inworked in them). Rev. 12 speaks of "a woman clothed with the SUN, and the MOON under her feet. . . " It is this woman who travails and brings forth a man child (a mature son). These lights are "to rule over the day and over the night." To rule over the gifts of God (day) and to rule over the present darkness that still troubles us, is the ministration of the Lights of the Fourth Day. At this stage, we find that the SUN is the center. We had thought we were the center, and the SUN moved around us! He is found to be steadfast, while we journey on until the Seventh Day’s work is wrought in us, and we are found "in the image of God."